MVA is successful experiment, says Sharad Pawar, denies being remote control of Maharashtra govt

Describing the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi government as a "successful experiment", NCP supremo Sharad Pawar made it clear that he was neither a "headmaster" nor a "remote control" of the government in Maharashtra.

The 79-year-old Pawar, one of the seniormost politician of the country, also hit out at the BJP saying that "powerful leaders" like Indira Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee too had to taste defeat.

The style of working of late Balasaheb Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray are different but as chief minister the latter is doing a good job, Pawar said in an interview to Saamana, the Shiv Sena mouthpiece, conducted by its executive editor Sanjay Raut.

"Definitely.... the MVA is a successful experiment," Pawar said about the government that comprises of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress besides smaller groups.

Asked whether he was headmaster or remote control of the government, Pawar, who is the chief architect of MVA, said: "None of these.... I am neither headmaster nor remote control.... this is a government of democracy and cannot be run through remote control... the government is run by chief minister and his council of ministers."

Pawar also came down heavily at leader of opposition and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis over his 'mi punha yein' (I will come back) refrain during the last year's Vidhan Sabha polls.

"Voters thought that this stance smacked of arrogance and felt that they should be taught a lesson," said Pawar, former leader of opposition in Lok Sabha.

Pawar also said that that there was not an "iota of truth" in reports about differences in the three ruling allies- Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress- that are part of the MVA government.
This is for the first time that a non-Shiv Sena leader has featured in a marathon interview series in the party mouthpiece.

It has so far published marathon interviews of late Bal Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray.

Replying to a query over BJP's defeat in the last assembly polls in the state, Pawar said, "In a democracy, you cannot think that you will remain in power eternally. Voters will not tolerate if they are taken for granted. Powerful leaders mass base with like Indira Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee (both former prime ministers) had been defeated. It means that in terms of the democratic rights, the common person is wiser than the politicians."

He said the change of government in Maharashtra was not an accident.

"People of Maharashtra voted in line of the sentiment prevailing in the country during the national elections. But the mood changed during the assembly polls. Even though BJP did well in the Lok Sabha polls, it fared poorly in assembly elections in different states. Even people of Maharashtra voted for a change," he said.

To a question on reported differences with Thackeray on the issue of lockdown in the state, Pawar said, "Absolutely not. What differences? For what? During the entire period of lockdown, I have had good rapport with the chief minister and continue to do so."

"I have been reading reports of growing differences among the three allies, but there is not an iota of truth in that," he said.

Pawar, who is a former union minister and a four-time Maharashtra chief minister, also said that he never thought the ideology of Bal Thackeray was in sync with that of BJP.

“The Balasaheb Thackeray that I know…maybe you people know about him more. But I never felt that his (Balasaheb) ideology, his working style was in sync with that of BJP”, he said.